The Commonwealth final was a Motorcycle speedway final sanctioned by the FIM as a qualifying round for the Speedway World Championship between 1979 and 1994.[1]

Introduced to the World Championship in 1979, it served as a qualifying round for Commonwealth riders, primarily those from Australia, England and New Zealand.[2]

The Commonwealth final was not run from 1981 to 1985, during which time riders who qualified through their national championship were through to the Overseas Final. It returned to the World Championship calendar in 1986 and lasted until 1994, the last year of the traditional single meeting World Championship final before the advent of the Speedway Grand Prix World championship series in 1995.[3]

Editions

All 11 Commonwealth finals were held in England. Kelvin Tatum was the most successful Commonwealth finalist, winning four finals (1987, 1988, 1990 and 1992). Reigning Australian Champion Leigh Adams was the only non-English winner when he took out the 1993 Final.[4]

Year Venue Winners Runner-up 3rd place
1979 England London
White City Stadium		 England Michael Lee Australia Billy Sanders England Dave Jessup
1980 England London
Wimbledon Stadium		 England Dave Jessup England John Louis New Zealand Ivan Mauger
1981-1985 - not held
1986 England Manchester
Belle Vue Stadium		 England Jeremy Doncaster England Kelvin Tatum England Chris Morton
1987 England Manchester
Belle Vue Stadium		 England Kelvin Tatum England Simon Cross England Marvyn Cox
1988 England King's Lynn
Norfolk Arena		 England Kelvin Tatum New Zealand Mitch Shirra England Simon Wigg
1989 England Manchester
Belle Vue Stadium		 England Simon Wigg[5] New Zealand Mitch Shirra England Neil Collins
1990 England Manchester
Belle Vue Stadium		 England Kelvin Tatum England Martin Dugard England Simon Cross
1991 England King's Lynn
Norfolk Arena		 England Jeremy Doncaster Australia Leigh Adams England Joe Screen
1992 England King's Lynn
Norfolk Arena		 England Kelvin Tatum New Zealand Mark Thorpe England Gary Havelock
1993 England King's Lynn
Norfolk Arena		 Australia Leigh Adams England Andy Smith England Martin Dugard
1994 England King's Lynn
Norfolk Arena		 England Mark Loram England Martin Dugard England Joe Screen

See also

References

  1. ↑ Speedway History
  2. ↑ Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 22. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
  3. ↑ "HISTORY SPEEDWAY and LONGTRACK". Speedway.org. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  4. ↑ "Commonwealth Fianal". Edinburgh Speedway. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  5. ↑ Oakes, Peter (1990). Speedway Yearbook 1990. Front Page Books. pp. 10–9. ISBN 0-948882-15-8.
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